BIOLOGY 1M03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Ancient Dna, Candidate Gene, Melanism
4 Dec 2017
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Evidence for evolution: extinct species, fossils, ancient dna, vestigial traits, transitional forms, evolution in real time, correlation between geography and patterns of diversity (in the past and present) Studying natural selection: melanism in moths, antibiotic resistance, darwin"s finches. Genetic basis of selection: candidate gene approaches. Vestigial traits are traits that have lost their ancestral function in a species but are still retained by that species. Examples: the human appendix, the human coccyx (tail bone, the eyes of a blind mile rat (all individuals in this species are blind, foot bones in a whale, pelvic spurs of a snake. Evidence that species are related: genetic and developmental homology. Homology is a similarity that exists in species that was inherited from an ancestor. Genetic homology is a similarity among species in dna sequences, gene conent, or other genetic attributes that is due to shared ancestry. Developmental homology is a similarity among species in embryonic traits that is due to shared ancestry.
